The Fidelius Charm
by EtichaErix
Summary: Lily's making the Charm exam in the great Hall, and she's being watched by a certain Chaser. Does J. Potter have a thing for Lily Evans? R & R, please!
1. Default Chapter

"Now, please put down all your quills and I will take the exams on my way to the desk", a squeaky voice announced. Lily looked up and saw the tiny Professor Flitwick walk along the rows of desks, collecting the exams in Charms they had been writing. She sighed deeply and put down her quill. She hastily looked through her answers, she had answered almost every question – only one question remained unanswered.

_23. This charm can completely hide a person or a place in such a way that no one can find them unless a Secret Keeper gives them the location. What charm is it?_

Lily's memory was blank. She couldn't think of anything. She knew that she'd heard the charm before, but where, and how? She knew all the other charm, the summoning charm they had learned in their fourth year, and the banishing charm; she had known the three Unforgivable curses. She saw Professor Flitwick come closer, and then it hit her. She grabbed her quill and scribbled down "_The Fidelius Charm_" on her exam. She leaned back in her chair and smiled broadly. There. Now she might get 100 per cent on the exam, and then she would be on step closer to her biggest dream ever: to become an Auror.

It was the last exam for the sixth years and Lily Evans was just one of all sixth hears attending on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They sat in the Great Hall, just have done their Charm-exam for Professor Flitwick. Row after row the students sat behind their desks, impatiently waited for the exam to end.

A couple of rows nearer the teacher's table sat a young man in the same age as Lily. His black hair was untidy; he ran his hand through it the whole time, as though he wanted to mess it up even further to make look windswept. Just as if he just had gotten of his broom. His eyes were hazel brown behind his glasses; he was tall and thin with a thin face. He was playing with a quill, dropping it and catching it just a few inches from the desk surface. He only did it to impress, wanting to show his fast reflexes, because James Potter was a Chaser in Quidditch and was a very good one too. Wanting to impress the female part of the school, there was especially one girl he wanted to impress. And that girl sat on the other side of the Hall, smiling broadly. He leaned back in his chair, balancing on two legs, and turned his head so that he came to look at her. Lily Evans was a very beautiful girl, and very smart too. He caught her eyes and smiled towards her. She smiled back and waved with a couple of fingers, so Flitwick wouldn't see it. He did the same and she smiled again. Then Flitwick passed her and her attention was moved from him to the Professor. When the Professor passed, she got to her feet, grabbed her things and let the Hall.

James almost fell of the chair. How come did Flitwick let Evans leave the room before all the exams were collected? He heard a silent laughter to his right and turned around to look at Sirius Black, one of his fellow companions, who sat two benches further down the right row. He frowned at him, and then turned around again, eagerly waiting for the exam to end.

Outside the Hall Lily ran up to her dormitory on the seventh floor in the Gryffindor tower, and opened one of her books. Out fell a letter, written by her mother. She had got it the same morning, but hadn't had time to read it during breakfast. Now she tore the envelope apart and read the letter quickly.

_Dearest Lily,_

_In writing moment we're all feeling well, and I hope that you do too. I wondered if you are coming home in a few weeks as usual, or if you are going to friends a couple of weeks before coming home. Petunia's having a cold at the moment, she's very irritated and might not be easy to deal with. I hope your exams went good? We're very proud of you, sweetheart, and I hope you know that. Love, _

_Mum_

Lily sighed deeply. Good, her parents were all right. She always became nervous when she got letters from home; they always seemed to remind her of where she came from – something she would like to forget at the moment. She read the letter once more, and smiled when she read the line about her sister. Petunia was always in a bad mood; Lily had a feeling that she didn't like the fact that her sister was a witch. Lily put the letter down again, reminding herself of writing a reply to her mum later. She brushed her hair a couple of minutes, it was red and shining. Her eyes were brilliant green and shaped like almonds. Her smile showed perfect white teeth. She met her own eyes in the mirror, and sighed. Nope. She wasn't a classical beauty, but she didn't look too awful.

On her way out of the common room, someone ran into her. She fell to the floor, cursing, and her long hair came into her face.

"Sorry, Evans", she heard a very familiar voice say. She looked up and met the eyes of James Potter. "I saw you run away from the exam, Evans", he said jokily. "Did you get tired of the whole thing? That's not going to look good in your results if you want to be a Head Girl."

"Beat it, Potter", Lily said angrily. "It had nothing to do with the exam, I just felt sick and had to go. Since I was finished with it, Flitwick let me go."

James's hazel-brown eyes became worried. "Are you okay now, then?" he asked. She got to her feet again, looking at him. He _was_ very handsome, he was, but he was _very_ annoying too.

"Yes, James, I'm fine", she said. "Can I go now?"

He blinked a couple of times, then said hastily: "Yeah, I mean – yeah, of course." He let her pass and stood still looking at her when she walked away.

_She called me James_, he thought. _That must be _something_, right?_

He smiled broadly and then climbed into the common room through the portrait hole in the wall. The portrait of the Fat Lady swung back and closed with a soft thud.


	2. James's letter and Bellatrix Black

When James came out from his dormitory the next morning, yawning, he first spotted Remus Lupin, a very close friend. Remus looked tired, and when James thought of it, it was soon going to be full moon, and then his friend would transform into a werewolf. And he, James, would be a stag. His usual form when he transformed. He was an unregistered Animagus. Without him getting a chance to talk, Remus got out of his chair and walked across the room and out through the portrait hole.

"Remus, wait!" Jams called after him. He ran after him, and suddenly Sirius Black, another of his closest friends, ran into him.

"Wow", he said and reached out an arm to prevent his friend from falling. "What's so important that you almost have to run me down?"

"I wanted to talk to you", Sirius said. He breathed hastily. "I saw the school owl you used to send a letter to your parent last time land a couple of minutes ago outside the common room. It had a letter for you." James looked up, his brown eyes were suddenly worried and he grabbed Sirius's arm.

"Is it something with my parents?" he asked, his voice had a tone of intenseness.

"I have the letter here", Sirius answered and took an envelope from his pocket. "Quick, open it." James walked fast down the stair and stood near the fire in the common room. He tore the envelope open, and with shaking hands he read the letter.

Lily Evans just walked in through the portrait hole, and spotted the two of them immediately. She saw how James sank down in an armchair, tears streaming down his face. Sirius, his friend and fellow partner when it came to mocking Severus Snape, bend down to say something to him. Lily hurried across the common room and tried to listen to what Sirius said.

"James, what's the matter?" Sirius wondered, he was frowning and his eyes seemed darker than ever. "Jamie, man, what's happened? Are your parents alright?" James looked up and saw Sirius straight in the eyes.

"Don't you dare call me Jamie!" he said, as though trying to be funny. Then he spotted Lily, and he automatically ran a hand through his untidy black hair. Sirius turned around, and smiled a bit.

"I see", he said. "But are you parents alright, Potter?" James nodded silently. Sirius nodded back.

"Well, I must go. I haven't had breakfast yet. But I want to hear every detail of that letter later, do you hear me? They're mine too, James." James nodded again and Sirius walked away with a wry smile on his face, but a worried glance in his eyes. James stayed in his armchair. He was trembling, pale, and a few tears still trickled down his cheek. Lily came up to him and sat down next to him.

"Are you alright, James?" she asked. He looked up and smiled weakly.

"Well, I have felt better", he said. He lifted a hand and touched one of her red curls that fell over her shoulder. She didn't move. She looked at him with a kindly smile, and saw his dark eyes fill up with tears. He hastily turned away.

"I'm sorry, Lil", he said. "I… I should probably go. I have to find Remus." He scrambled to his feet, almost knocking her over. She grabbed his arm to stay upright. They found themselves standing and looking into each others eyes. With a blushing face, Lily let go of his arm.

"I hope everything's fine with your parents", she said, avoiding his glances. He cleared his throat. His voice sounded thick when he said:

"I hope so too. Good bye, Lily. See you later." She leaned towards him and hugged him quickly, whispering:

"See you later in class, James." They split, and James hurried across the room and out through the portrait hole. He almost ran into the statue of Lachlan the Lanky which stood between the stairs leading down to the sixth floor and the portrait of the Fat Lady. He cursed but continued downstairs, eager to find both Remus and Sirius immediately. Lily walked after him slowly, walking towards the library on the fourth floor. Walking along the bookshelves, looking for an interesting book to read, someone suddenly said with a nasty voice:

"How's everything going, Evans? You looked as though you lost everything you own on Wizarding Chess." Lily hurled around and bumped into one of the bookshelves.

"Ouch!" she cried out and rubbed her arm. The other girl laughed, it was a very shrill sound.

"Shut up, Black", Lily said. "You have nothing to do with me."

"Are you sure?" Bellatrix Black leaned forward, whispering:

"I thought you laid eyes on my cousin."

"Sirius?" Lily almost laughed with relief. "Merlin's Beard, no!" Bellatrix snorted.

"What? Isn't the Black family good enough for you? You're Muggle born, Evans." Lily felt uneasy when she saw the mad glimpse in Bellatrix's eyes, she wanted to get away from Sirius's cousin, but Bellatrix had caught her inside one of the aisles between the bookshelves, and Lily had two options: walking into the stone wall behind her, or walking past Bellatrix. She would rather have climbed the stone wall then walking past Bellatrix.

"Leave me alone, Bellatrix", Lily said coolly. "I haven't done anything." Bellatrix came nearer.

"Are you sure about that, Evans?" Lily could feel her breath and she almost started to shiver.

"Look, tell me what you want, or just leave me alone", Lily said angrily to hide her fear. Bellatrix opened her mouth to reply, when a sharp voice interrupted her.

"Leave Evans alone, Bellatrix." Lily almost fainted with relief when she saw Sirius lean against one of the bookshelves. He looked tired, but his dark eyes glimmered with a strange lustre. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought that he actually enjoyed it. Bellatrix flung around at the sound of his voice.

"My dear cousin", she said, with scorn at every syllable.

"That would be me, yes", Sirius answered, without his eyes leaving her for a second. "What are you up to now then, cousin? Want to conquer the world?" Bellatrix's lips curved in a scornful smile.

"It would be better then serving the Head master as his little puppy."

"What to you mean by that!" Sirius said, and he raised his voice slightly. Suddenly Madam Pince turned up around a corner. She looked very angry.

"Please leave, now, the three of you. It is very noisy", she said with pursed lips. Sirius grabbed Lily's arm and basically dragged her out of the library.

In the corridor, he turned around to face her, his lips pursed with disgust.

"What the hell were you doing with her!" he bellowed. She noticed that he looked even more tired now than before.

"I wasn't doing anything", she protested. He sighed deeply.

"Yeah, Lil, I know. It's just… naw, never mind." He turned around, walked a few steps down the corridor, and then turned around to face her.

"Eh… Lil. Is James okay?" Lily found herself smiling broadly.

"Yes, I think so." Sirius nodded silently, turned around and walked away. Just before he turned around the corner, he said:

"Thanks, Lily."


End file.
